much of this, but what I did understand is that up to that time my family was really struggling just to eat and survive. I grew up on a ranch in Central Texas. We could not afford to pay for propane needed to cook or heat or homes. The ranch is a family ranch with various family members living in their homes on the ranch. All of the family was in poverty, we received government cheese and subsidies but the majority of our food items were provided by the local church food pantries, and the crops and wild game the land provided.

We had to work as a complete family unit combining all of our food together and prepare our meals for all family members in the fireplace using cast iron and camping style cook ware. Our meals were limited to what we could prepare in large quantities to feed the fifteen or so family members living on the ranch.

This experience is not one I look upon with great grief or complaint but more as an example of the human spirit and the ability of family and people to come together and help one another get through difficult times.

We did not seek government assistance, we sought ways to be self-sufficient and we did just that. We had a garden, and chickens for eggs and meat. We also hunted deer and at times I’m certain ate possum, raccoon and armadillo. This may sound appalling to some but for all we knew it was just “chicken”.

Due to the financial hardships of the 70’s and early 80’s we did end up having to sell several hundred acres of our family ranch in order to avoid losing it due to taxes. I was about eight years old when part of the ranch was sold, but I fully understood the emotional hardship it placed upon my family. The ranch had been in my family since around 1880. My ancestors worked this land with the most basic tools and yet built a home and a legacy for all the future generations to appreciate. Knowing the hard work and dedication my ancestors endured to provide this land which would sustain our family through the generations, certainly gave everyone a sense of betrayal to these brave, honorable hardworking people, yet we had no other the choice but to lose the family ranch in its entirety or to sell off over eight hundred acres in order to retain around 400 for the family. We did keep the barn and family homes as well as river frontage for the stock, but even today looking upon that dividing fence stirs up strong emotions of loss.

The ranch still remains in the family and many members still call it home. I am comforted by the fact that if times continue to worsen in America, I can return to my family home. I was taught how to live off the land, while respecting the land. Knowing how to grow my own vegetables, how to hunt and prepare game, how to manage water usage, how to live without electricity, how to survive without any assistance from the federal government.

This is where the great divide exists in Americans. A far greater number of people do not possess even the most basic skills needed to feed themselves, build shelter for themselves, or even start a fire without matches or a lighter. These people are beholden to the Federal government for their mere survival and this form of dependency equates to slavery of the American people. No longer is the master a plantation owner in the south, and the people being African-Americans, but All Americans’ of all ethnic, religious and cultural groups are enslaved by the new master which is the Federal government in which we have unintentionally given this power to.

The federal government controls the food supply, the access to fuel, the access to water etc. The regulations of the EPA and other groups have systematically taken away what our creator has provided and are responsible for deciding what you can and cannot have and do and cannot do on your own land. The federal government essentially owns all rights to the natural resources we require as humans to survive and at any point in time can abuse these powers to fully enslave the people of America to the Federal government.

This shift in the role of the Federal government is the reason we find ourselves in fear of those vowed to protect us, and in fear of our first amendment rights of freedom of speech, as it is unspoken, yet clearly apparent to all, freedom of speech is only tolerated when it meets the qualifications set forth under the over changing definition of “Political Correctness”.

The federal governments’ only role in the lives of the American people is to provide security from outside sources, not to determine what we eat, what are children are taught, or what type of speech is acceptable.

It is not freedom when one must constantly verify or question their actions or speech to ensure no one is offended. Tolerance is just that the ability to tolerate all people with all views without violating the rights of that person. My inability to speak my mind freely without potentially offending someone does not reflect upon my level of tolerance but more so upon those who claim to be offended. Being offended by another and attempting to silence them is the greatest example of Intolerance I can provide.

In conclusion American’s need to open their eyes speak with their elders about how America was when they were your age and really evaluate how far from freedom we have come in this country. And almost as important, learn how to grow your own food, find shelter and have the knowledge to survive on your own, only then are you truly free.

Post navigation

Published by Kelly

Out of the night that covers me
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced or cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find me, unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate;
I am the captain of my soul.
“Invictus” by William Ernest Henley
View all posts by Kelly